Glove construction



G. V. MAZZA March 4, 1969 GLOVE CONSTRUCT ION Filed Feb. 26, 1968 Sheetof 2 FIG.1

OOVODO O INVENTOR. Gerald V. Mazza ATTORNEY March 4, 1969 G. V. MAZZAGLOVE CONSTRUCTION Sheet Filed Feb. 26, 1968 FIG.6

United States Patent 3,430,265 GLOVE CONSTRUCTION Gerald V. Mazza, 752Westminster Road, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230 Continuation-impart ofapplication Ser. No. 634,367, Apr. 27, 1967. This application Feb. 26,1968, Ser.

US. Cl. 2162 Int. Cl. A4111 19/00 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURECROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is acontinuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 634,3 67,filed Apr. 27, 1967, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates generally to a glove construction, and more particularly, to agolf glove having means for adjusting the width of the glove to providea skin tight fit when the glove is in use.

Description of the prior art Heretofore, glove constructions have beenproposed having an opening in the front or back portions thereof whichare closed by fastening means, such as buttons and button holes orcomplementary snap-engaging fasteners. The diificulty and disadvantagein wearing these gloves when playing the game of golf, are that theabove noted fasteners do not provide means for adjusting the width ofthe glove to obtain a skin tight fit on the hand of the wearer. Forexample, most golfers today wear a golf glove to assist them in firmlygripping the shaft of a golf club to ensure the proper swing and contactwith the golf ball, and thus improve the golfers game. It has beenfound, however, that the golf glove must have a skin tight fit in orderfor it to properly perform its intended function. Furthermore, glovesconstructed with the above noted fastening means usually do not conformto the regulations established by the United States Golfers Association.In this connection, the weight of the fasteners is often found to beobjectionable because it mechanically assists the golfers hand inbearing down during the impact of the club with the ball. The presentinvention provides a golf glove construction that overcomes thedifficulties and disadvantages heretofore known with existing golfgloves,

3,430,265 Patented Mar. 4, 1969 while also conforming to the gloveregulations established by the United States Golfers Association.

Summary of the invention The glove construction of the present inventionprovides for the back portion of the glove to be split from the open endof the glove toward the finger stalls to facilitate sliding the gloveonto the hand of the wearer. A flap extends from one split edge of theback portion and is arranged to overlap the other split edge of saidback portion and be releasably interconnected to the overlapped portionby means of a nylon tape closure. Such a closure comprises flexible loopand hook means respectively mounted on opposing surfaces of said flapand overlapped portion, whereby selected surface areas of the respectiveoverlapping portions may be interconnected by said loop and hook meansfor adjusting the width of the glove to the size of the wearers hand toinsure a skin tight fit of the glove when it is in use. An elastic stripis provided on the front portion of the glove and extends along the openend thereof for gathering the front wrist covering portion to furtherinsure a snug fit when wearing the glove. In another embodiment of theinvention, a pair of flaps extend respectively from the split edges ofthe back portion of the assembled glove. In this embodiment, theflexible loop and hook closure means are respectively mounted onopposing surfaces of the flaps for releasably and adjustablyinterconnecting said flaps in overlapping relation.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a gloveconstruction having means for adjusting the width thereof to assure askin tight fit when the glove is in use.

Another object and feature of the present invention is to provide aglove construction that is economical to manufacture and gives longlasting service.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a rear elevational view ofa glove constructed in accordance with the present invention, theoverlapping flap being shown partly turned backward;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the glove of FIGURE 1 isconstructed;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken through line 33 of FIGURE1;

FIGURE 4 is a reduced front elevational view, with parts broken away, ofthe glove constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 illustrating another embodimentof the invention;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the blank from which the glove of FIGURE 5 isconstructed; and

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken through line 77 of FIGURE5.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to the drawings, andmore particularly to FIGURES 1 through 4, numeral 10 represents a gloveconstructed according to the present invention. The glove 10 is formedfrom the blank 12 shown in FIGURE 2 and is preferably constructed of alight leather or other suitable flexible fabric material. Blank 12 has asubstantially rectangular shaped body member '14 which is provided withcrease lines 16 for separating the glove into front portion 18 and splitback portions 20 and 21. Front portion 18 is formed with preformedspaced parallel slits 22 defining finger portions 24 and the rearportions 20 and 21 of the glove blank are similarly formed with fingerdefining portions 28. If desired, the finger portions 24 and 28 mayfurther be formed with a series of aligned perforations 30 for purposesof ventilation. The palm area of the front portion 18 is formed with adiagonal slit 32 in line with the forefinger 34. The slit 32 intersectsa cutaway portion 36 into which extends a triangular shaped insert 38;said insert terminating in a thumb stall portion 50 projecting from thefront portion 18 of the glove as shown in FIGURE 4. A flap portion 40extends from a side edge of blank 12 and serves to close the split backportions 20', 21 in a manner hereinafter described.

In assembling the glove, the blank 12 is folded along the lines 16 thusbringing the front finger portions 24 and the back finger portions 28 inface to face relation whereupon they are secured together along theedges thereof by rows of stitching 42 to form finger stalls 44 in thecompleted glove. As is common in the construction of gloves of thischaracter, the finger portions 24, 28 are also connected by the usualgussets and forchettes, not shown, which are stitched as at 42 tocomplete the finger stalls 44. Referring to FIGURE 1, the split backportions 20 and 21 are closed for an area extending from the base of thefinger stalls to the knuckle covering portion of the glove by means ofstitching 46. In other words, the back portion of glove is constructedhaving an opening or slit 48 extending from the open end of the glovetoward the finger stalls for permitting the glove to be easily put onand taken off the hand of the wearer as required. Accordingly, flap 40is shown as extending from one split edge of the back portion and isarranged to overlap the other split edge of said back portion and bereleasably interconnected to the overlapped portion by means of a nylontape closure of the kind available under the trade name Velcro. Such atape closure consists essentially of two pieces of nylon tape. One pieceis covered with a myriad of finely woven filaments formed into permanenthooks. The other piece is covered with soft nylon loops. When pressedtogether, the two tapes engage and fasten tightly to form a firm shearresistant bond. However, the tapes separate readily by simply peelingthem apart.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 3, a nylon tape 52 is secured to theunder-surface of flap 40 and is covered with nylon loops 54 projectingtherefrom. A nylon tape 56 having nylon hooks 58 projecting therefrom isalso secured to the outer surface of the overlapped back portion of theglove. Accordingly, when the tapes 52 and 56 are pressed together, thehooks 58 enter between the closely woven loops 54 and strongly grip suchloops so as to releasably retain the tapes 52 and 56 in pressed-togetherrelationship, but may be separated by merely forcibly pulling apart thetapes. Accordingly, it will now be appreciated that by means of thenovel glove construction described above, the width of the glove may bereadily adjusted to the size of the wearers hand to ensure a skin tightfit by merely interconnecting selected surface areas of the respectiveoverlapping tapes 52 and 56; thereby assisting the wearer in obtaining afirmer grip on the golf club and improving his game. If desired, theglove can be worn constantly throughout the game with comfort since theVelcro fasteners can be instantly opened to decrease the amount ofperspiration encountered in heretofore known golf golves. The gloveconstruction is such that it can be worn as snug or as loose as thewearer desires for maximum efiiciency and comfort.

While flap 40 is illustrated as being formed integral with the blank 12,it will be appreciated that the flap can be formed separately and thensecured to a split edge of the back portion by means of stitching or thelike. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment, flap 4G is formed havinga longitudinal extent equal to that of the split edges of the backportion of the assembled glove. It will further be appreciated that themounting arrangement of the tapes 52 and 56 can be alternativelyreversed, whereby tape 56 would be secured to the under-surface of flap40 and tape 52 would be secured to the outer surface of the overlappedback portion of the glove.

In accordance with the present invention and as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4elastic means in the form of an elastic strip 60 is mounted preferablyon the inner surface of front portion 18 of the glove by means ofstitching 62 or the like. Elastic strip 60 extends along the open end ofthe glove and is provided for gathering the front wrist covering portionthereof to insure a snug fit of the glove when it is in use.

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 illustrate another embodiment of the gloveconstructed according to the present invention wherein those portionsthat are common to the first embodiment are identified by the samereference numbers followed by the symbol prime Accordingly, the 10' ofthis embodiment is constructed from the blank 12' illustrated in FIGURE6 and is provided with flaps 64 and 66 extending respectively fromopposite side edges thereof. When the blank 12 is folded along the lines16' and the fingers and thumb stalls 44' and 50' respectively, areshaped and constructed in the manner heretofore described, the splitback portions 20 and 21' are closed for an area extending from the baseof the finger stalls to the knuckle covering portion of the glove bymeans of stitching 46. Accordingly, flaps 64 and 66 extend from therespective split edges of the back portion of the assembled glove andare provided with a Velcro type closure for releasably and adjustablyinterconnecting said flaps in overlapping relation. More particularly, atape 52 having nylon loops 54 projecting therefrom is secured to theunder surface of flap 64 and a similar tape 56' having nylon hooks 58projecting therefrom is secured to the outer surface of flap 66. Theinter-cooperation of loops 54' and hooks 58' is such that the wearer caninterconnect selected surface areas of the respective overlapping tapes,in the manner heretofore described, to readily adjust the width of theglove to the size of the wearers hand to insure a skin tight fit.

It is to be further understood that the gloves of the present inventioncan be worn when playing other sports aside from the game of golf. Inthis connection, the gloves can be made in various lengths dependingupon the use intended and in all such applications, the gloves would beconstructed with the above noted fastening arrangement so as to assure askin tight fit when in use.

What is claimed is:

1. A glove comprising:

(a) a hollow flexible body member having front and back portions;

(b) finger stalls projecting from one end of the body member;

(0) a thumb stall projecting from the front portion of the body memberintermediate the ends thereof;

(d) the other end of the body member being open for receiving the handof the wearer;

(e) the back portion of the body member being split from the open end ofthe body member toward the finger stalls to facilitate sliding the gloveonto the hand of the wearer;

(f) a pair of flaps extending respectively from the split edges of theback portion, each of said flaps having a longitudinal extentsubstantially equal to that of the split edges of the back portion andhaving a tapered longitudinally extending side edge for increasing thetransverse dimension of said flaps toward the open end of the bodymember;

(g) flexible loop and hook means respectively mounted on opposingsurfaces of said flaps for releasably and adjustably interconnectingselected opposed surface area of said flaps in overlapping relation toadjust the fit of the glove on the hand of the wearer, References Citedthe tapered side edges of the overlapping flaps being UNITED STATESPATENTS in diverging relation to each other to maximize the areas ofcontact of the flaps in any adjusted position ggfi f and h f f h b d 51,432,005 10/1922 Wolf 2 169 x e astlc m eans 051 t 6 Font p f 0 t e O y2 085 4 7 6/1937 Lipton 1 member, said elastic means extendlng along theopen 3,274,616 9/1966 Russo end of said body member for gathering thefront writ covering portion of the body member when the JORDAN FRANKLIN,Primary Examine)- glove is in use. 10 G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner.

